


wake up to your voice

by rinthegreat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Dissociation, M/M, Mild Gore, Mild Horror, POV Second Person, Pining, Shiro is really in love with Lance ok, it was also supposed to be a domestic drabble, this was experimental
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 02:25:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11545512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinthegreat/pseuds/rinthegreat
Summary: 78: “It’s nice that your voice was the first thing I heard today.”Requested by my lovely beta @thislittlekumquat





	wake up to your voice

**Author's Note:**

> this...wasn't supposed to happen. requested by my beta [thislittlekumquat](https://thislittlekumquat.tumblr.com) for a prompt that was supposed to be like 200 words...not almost 2000. this is also very experimental as far as my writing style goes, so let me know if you like the second person POV. since it's a gift for her, this is unbetaed. pardon any typos. :)

When you open your eyes and the first thing you see is the cage, you’re not surprised. If anything, you’re surprised you lasted this long out of their hands.

You expect things to go back to the way they were according to your hazy memory: that is to say, you expect the arena.

What you don’t expect is for the door to open and Keith to walk in.

Or…what kind of looks like Keith.

You squint, getting a good look at it, but it’s not quite Keith. In fact, it’s not quite…human. Or Galra. It looks more like someone molded humans out of clay after having seen them only once. Like they’d probed into your memories and gotten a good look at Keith, but they couldn’t quite recreate it.

It doesn’t surprise you when Not Keith attacks.

You dispose of Not Keith easily – it can’t move like a human, and it’s nowhere near as strong as a Galra. When your prosthetic cuts into it, something like wet clay goops out. You don’t want to know what it really is.

Two druids enter after. One shoots something black at you before you can even react, pinning you to the wall behind as they clean up Clay Keith. They leave just as silently, and you’re alone again.

The next time the door opens, you’re faced with Hunk.

It’s easier this time, even than the last. Hunk is a comforting presence in the vastness of space. You haven’t known him long, but even with what you know, you can tell it’s not him. The same clay goops out of it when you make a cut.

Allura follows next. Then Coran.

You know you’re being watched. This is the new sport, you think. Pitting a paladin against other, faker paladins. Trying to condition you against your teammates.

But you know what they’re doing, and you won’t let them turn you against them.

Pidge is the hardest yet. They almost get her right – her height is the same and she moves the most like a human yet. But Pidge isn’t a fighter, at least not in the way the Galra are. The minute she attacks, you see the flaws – the seams that humans don’t have.

The dread sets in next, because you know what’s coming. You’ve known since Clay Keith walked through the door.

So you steel yourself. _Patience yields focus_ , you remind yourself. Deep breaths and meditation. Preparation. Because you know what you have to do.

But then _he_ walks through that door.

None of them have been wearing the paladin armor, and _he_ is no exception. He’s dressed in prison garb, the same as you, and when he walks you can almost see his cocky swagger. You tell yourself it’s because the clay is misplaced, forcing him to walk weird, but it doesn’t quite work. And when he attacks, you

Freeze.

The clay is cold where it hits you, pieces of it even stick to you, and as he starts to melt in front of you, you know. You _know_.

You’re barely injured. A few scratches, a bruise, but nothing that would put you out of commission for longer than it would take to stick on a band aid. And yet you don’t care.

Because that’s what they’ve been waiting for.

Only one druid enters this time, mopping up the mess of clay. You don’t even raise a finger. They sweep it out, leaving you in darkness, and finally you collapse.

They come in later, three druids this time, and pin you to the wall like before. You struggle, finally broken out of the dreamland you were in, ready to get out of this hellhole. You can’t stay here any longer, not now that they have what they want.

You see it: gold, nearly glowing, as they stick you with the needle. It’s long and sharp, and they aren’t gentle when they jab it in your side. The black fog stays around you, keeping you in place even as they leave, and that can’t be a good thing.

Your vision burns blue before you pass out.

Time blurs but certain things never do. The shade of brown of his skin: too light then too dark then almost right. The stinging of the liquid as they pump it through your veins. The blue that pierces through your very soul every time you so much as blink.

Sometimes you think you might be crying – liquid drips down your face and doesn’t sting. Other times you think it might be blood. Memories come back to you in dreams, if they are dreams. If they are memories. Ripping, tearing, shredding. You see it all from your view as you destroy him.

But you blink and he’s the one killing you.

Nightmares are supposed to end when you wake up, but what if you can’t tell the difference anymore? One of these is reality and one is a dream, and you know which you prefer. After all, if you die in a dream you die in real life.

If only they’d let you.

You count moments in blinks after a while. Each one reveals something different. A druid, emptiness, or _him_. Three moments makes a day, then the cycle repeats.

Until it doesn’t.

The nothingness lasts too long – you can feel your fingers again. You flex them against the wall behind you, feeling the cold metal against your left hand. At least your right still can’t feel.

But then the door opens.

This time…this time he’s in the paladin armor. He pulls off his helmet and tosses it to the floor, and for the first time you think they got his hair right. That’s not all, though. When he gets up right in front of you, his eyes widen, and the shade of blue is finally what you remember.

“Shiro! Oh my god…”

This time you know they’re tears.

For so long your world has been filled with silence and blinks. Now, even after you blink, he’s still there. You hear the clinking of his armor as he pulls you from the wall, his voice in your ear as he repeats your name over and over again. You feel the heat coming off him as he cradles you against his chest, his breath in your ear as he speaks, asking if you can hear him.

Maybe this is heaven.

The blue you see before you go is warm; it doesn’t burn as you fall, and no golden glow follows it this time.

When you open your eyes again, it’s cold. You stumble forward a few steps before collapsing against something hard and warm. Hunk. He helps you right yourself, and you can finally look around. The castle ship. You’re back.

You don’t know how they did it, but you’re back.

Your lips are dry, chapped, and your throat is hoarse when you try to speak. “Where’s everyone else?” You croak.

“Keith’s training, Allura’s running the wormhole, Pidge is helping Coran fix your lion,” Hunk lists off. “And I sent Lance to bed a few hours ago.”

“How long?”

“That you’ve been sleeping? Almost a week. Coran can explain it to you better than I can. You were gone about a month.”

A month. It felt like a lifetime.

Your legs are jelly and your stomach _aches_ but all you want is to sleep. Real sleep this time. “I’m headed to bed.”

 “Good idea, man. I’ll save you dinner.”

A month is long enough to change your insides to rubber but not long enough to change the castle. You need the wall to help you walk, but it grounds you as well, letting reality creep back in with each step. You know the way back to your room like it was yesterday.

And yet…

You stop there, in front of this door. It’s no different looking than any other door, but you would recognize it anywhere. _His_ door. You lean against it, pressing your forehead to the metal, breathing it as if it were him. And ever so lightly, you press the pad.

The door whooshes open.

Inside is dark, illuminated only by the hallway you’re standing in and the streaks of stars as they fly past. It’s even prettier when you step inside and only the stars light it up. Almost as pretty as him, lying in his bed.

You might be a thief, sneaking up on him while he sleeps, and yet he doesn’t even stir. You want to pull him to you, bury him, keep him away from you. But you should leave – you don’t belong here.

A groan rips from his throat as you turn, and when you look back a single eye blinks up at you – the other still covered by the mask.

“Shiro?”

His voice alone could topple planets, summon armies, launch a thousand ships. You kneel.

“Sorry.”

It’s not enough. Never enough.

“What are you doing here?”

But you…you can’t explain. Can’t tell him what happened. He can never know what you saw, what you did. So you stay silent, crouched next to him. Speechless.

And then he sighs, more tired than exasperated, and pushes himself back against the wall. The blanket is held up, as if to invite you in, but all you can do is stare at it dumbly.

“Come on, get in.”

An invitation is all you needed. You crawl in before he revokes it, cradling as close as you dare, and yet still trying not to touch him.

He throws an arm over you anyway, tucking you closer, and you’re too weak to resist.

When you wake up the next morning, it’s to him already talking.

“Seriously Keith he needs to sleep. I’ll get you when he wakes up.”

The bed is still warm, and after a few moments, you hear the door, and he crawls over you.

“Oh. Hey. Didn’t know you were awake,” he smiles, keeping one arm over your stomach. You hope it never moves.

“It’s nice,” you tell him, clearing your throat, “that your voice was the first thing I heard today.”

If this is a dream, you never want to wake up.

**Author's Note:**

> scream at me on [tumblr](https://rinthegreat.tumblr.com)


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